Unfathomable

13.

Madara:

Izuna was a ball of energy the entire morning. He was giddy, running all over the place, and could talk about nothing but the date.

"I'm so nervous I can't eat a bite!" he complained and took a stack of six waffles and covered them in butter and fruit and maple syrup before shoving them into his mouth. "Mum and dad will be out tonight so they won't know I'm going on a date! Please don't tell them." He was speaking with his mouth full. "Can you do my makeup? Should I use the hair straightener to wave my hair? Can you do my hair? What should I wear? How will I be able to snowboar today? I'm so nervous! Oh, right, Tobirama is coming snowboarding, too. Shit!"

"Are you giving him tips about snowboarding?" I asked.

He looked at me as if I were dumb. "You're joking", he said, mouth full. "There's nothing I can teach him. He's much, much better than me."

"No way."

"Way! He's the best snowboarder I've seen."

"You're exaggerating because you like him."

"I'm really not, though. I saw him snowboard down the black wall." Holy shit. I'd only seen one snowboarder go down that hill and he was a world champion. I was one of few who could go down on skis. "We're going off piste today. You okay with that?"

I kissed the top of his head. "Yes. I trust you both."

Izuna came home red-faced after three hours, and not only from the cold. He went to get ready for his first date.

"When are you meeting?" I asked.

"Seven pm."

"There's three hours left."

"I know! I just want everything to be perfect."

"You are perfect!" I said.

Izuna smiled. "Thank you. But seriously, though, will you help me?"

"Of course."

Izuna gave me a free hand, which was exceptionally fun. I used my super-expensive smoothening cream in his hair and blow-dried it until it was straight, then used the hair straightener. I used a jade clip to put it up in a messy updo. Izuna was so tense the entire time, plucking his fingers, bouncing his leg, barely speaking.

"How would you like your makeup?" I asked and started to massage his shoulders to release some tension.

"Ouch! That hurts!"

"Yes, and no wonder. You've never been this stiff. Try to relax."

He slumped his shoulders down, and I started working some knots away as he started speaking. "I think... Madara, make a girly makeup. I think I want it. I feel I can be entirely myself around him."

I kept massaging. "You wanna talk about it?" I asked.

"About what?"

"Your identity."

Izuna went quiet for a while, and to my great pleasure I could feel his back starting to relax. "I still identify as male, I think. But sometimes, I don't think I identify as anything. Or rather, I don't really care, or think about it, you know?"

I smiled and nodded, so he could see in the mirror that I was listening and wanted him to continue. I went to stand in front of him and picked up a foundation and a sponge and got to work. Izuna continued speaking.

"And I think Tobirama wouldn't mind. We have talked about it a little and he told me that he identifies as gay, and I asked him out of curiosity how he would react if his partner would tell him they wanted to transition into a female. I don't want to do that, but it was an easier way to find out how he likes feminine me. He said he would be supportive and keep loving them. He also said that he isn't attracted to females per se, but if it was his male partner who wanted to transition, he would already love them, so would keep doing so once they were female. So he can't fall in love with females, but can maintain love for them."